Olympus Stylus 1050 SW (black)

Pros: Shock proof
Water proof
Big range of built-in shooting settings (all accessible via a simple dial)
Rugged.

Cons: Limited to use only XD cards which are often double the price of other memory for the same capacity.

Summary: This series of Olympus digital cameras are just wonderful for those of us who have adventure/outdoor lifestyles.

You can take it anywhere - because it is ultracompact. We often have it stuffed in our trouser pocket along with the pocket knife.
You can store it anywhere - because it is well-built and shock-proof. In particular, the lens and lens cap are somewhat protected by the casing and the lens cap is a lot more solid than most ultracompacts and compacts.
You can use it anywhere - because it is water-proof and snow-proof. Don't worry if you are in a tropical rainstorm, crossing a river or snorkelling. If you are toboganning or snow-boarding, this is just perfect to stick in the hip pocket of your ski gear.

And the camera comes with a large range of built-in settings that adjust for strong light (snow), blue filter (underwater), indoor lighting (incandescent, fluro), available light, etc. To get to these settings, just spin the dial and your last used setting is already selected.

Connecting camera to my PC (Windows Vista Home Premium) was simple plug-and-play. It is accessible via any TWAIN compatible software once connected. (I have yet to find a piece of software that did not access my Olympus automatically.)

I wished only that Olympus would go with a standard memory card.

(Note that on close-ups, the flash can be a bit bright and throws a fairly solid shadow behind the main subject. You can compensate by standing further away and then zooming in to soften the flash effect.)